. a misunderstood medical savior facing unfair prosecution or a famous form logical risk taker who -- pharmacological. he is shutting down because of a dispute with authorities about the way he treats his patients. he believes pain causes brain damage, so he prescribes more painkillers than conventional practitioners. some of them have contacted wusa9 complaining that he does more harm than good. gary nurenberg is here with the follow-up. >> reporter: derek, fearing legal action, some of the folks that complained refused to go

public and voiced their concern about the treatment that the doctor has offered the pain treatment. this is treatment they criticized in their attempt to dpriev him of his license -- deprive him of his license. but another did want to criticize the approach. she is an addiction specialist in allegheny. wusa9 has followed the case since the dc government moved against him last year. he prescribes more narcotics than mainstream doctors because the pain causes brain damage. >> when there is brain damage, it's destructive. there is death. the patient must receive adequate and aggressive treatment is my view.

>> only clinical addiction counselor christie arthur could not disagree more. >> i worked for years with clients with addiction. i am an addict myself. and i would say that i am intimately aware when a client is dealing with substance abuse issues. addiction creates a number of problems in terms of people's ability to function. pain or no pain. addiction is an all consuming disease which impairs relationships, often leads to unemployment, problems with jobs, financial issues, a number of things. but in addition to that, the long-term use of narcotics and drugs also creates things in the brain that are damaging. >> reporter: she objects to prescriptions of large amounts of narcotics and claims -- >> there are clients that i've worked with that were under the care of this doctor, and as a result they were very much at

risk. their addiction was, again, enabled and perpetuated by the doctor. >> reporter: we were able to reach dr. salerian in texas about an hour ago. he agrees with arthur that addiction is harmful and is aware of that. he said i am opposed of giving people with addiction narcotics. he goes on to say, but there is a way of dealing with the problems of addiction without depriving people of their chronic pain with treatment. his practice left his broke. he closes his practice next week. derek. well, gary, tonight heartache has setted all over the -- settled all over the small town. they're grieving under the loss of two youngsters who died after the -- young sisters who died

after a fire. all of this while the father was climbing on to the burning roof fighting to reach the two sisters. they did not get out alive. >> i could see the blaze from my house. it was horrible. >> it led to tragedy. absolute tragedy. we didn't sleep at all last night. neither my husband or i. >> she kept saying what happened. what happened. where can my baby be. >> i'm a mother , and i don't know how she can handle losing two babies like that. >> killed in the fire were a 6-year-old and 3-year-old. the cause of the fire is still under investigation. a former culpeper police who killed a woman -- police officer who killed a woman could spend three years behind bar. they raid the recommendation -- made the recommendation today. the prosecution claims harmon-wright lost his temper while questioning cook and shot her multiple times as she was

driving away. the defense insisted harmon-wright was an officer doing his job. earlier this week, he was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and he will serve his time in a county jail. the parents of a 5-year-old boy being held hostage in alabama are praying for his safety after the fourth day. he is holding a little boy in a bunker underground. on tuesday he boarded a school bus, shot the driver and ran off with the boy. swat teams are negotiating with dike through a ventilation pipe trying to convince him let the little boy go. they used the pipe to get medication, food and coloring books to the child who is said to have a disorder similar to autism. the mayor says the boy has been crying for his parents and doesn't understand what is going on. well, the white house calls it a terror attack, talking about today's suicide bombing outside the u.s. embassy in turkey. that blast killed the bomber and a turkish guard who was manning

the checkpoint. turkey's prime minister says this is the work of a domestic group. hillary clinton spoke to the staff on turkey as final day of secretary of state. she was briefed by the bombing and then spoke by phone of leaders of turkey. later, she gave a farewell address and then off to the white house for a farewell meeting with obama. john carey was then sworn in as the -- john kerry was then worn in as the new secretary of state. it was a private secretary with his wife, daughter and brother looking on. the secret service is going to need a new bar. murk sullivan is retiring -- mark sullivan is retiring this month. the secret service came under fire last year when some agents were involved in a prostitution scandal in columbia. at the time, president obama

said he had confidence in sullivan's leadership. new tonight at 11:00, a warning for all you twitter users. you may have been hacked. twitter says some 250,000 accounts have been compromised. now, we're talking everything from your e-mail address and password. if you are affected, you should be getting an e-mail from twitter. actor bradley cooper is using his break out role to bring awareness to a very serious subject. today he was in dc talking about mental illness and the stigma surrounding it. he wants to change that in a big way. in his latest movie, cooper plays a man with bipolar disorder. >> i had the privilege of going from somebody that was ignorant to empathetic, and now i can take action. and this is the little action i can take. and if everybody else puts the time in to understand, they can start to take action. the next thing you know, we could have policy. and then real change can occur.

>> last night cooper also met with veteran walter reed, and we have to find a few more weeks to see if he wins an oscar in his role. tonight's health alert alerts you to fake products being advertised all over the place this flu season. the fda says it's seen an uptick in bogus blue remedies, including fake vaccines and antiviral drugs and air filters that claim to remove flu from the air. the germ bullet nasal inhaler, the claim that essential oil coats the nasal packages and keep viruses out. fda says not proven at all. we're just two days away from the biggest football game of the year. >> yep. on sunday, as you probably may have heard by now, the ravens will take on the 49ers in the superbowl. our kristen berset is in the big easy tonight. and i hear you got to talk to a player who has such an inspirational story it was made

into a movie? >> reporter: that's right. you remember the movie the blindside. sandra bullock was the star and there was a the story of michael ore. he went onto become a first round draft pick and now plays for the baltimore ravens. we got at chance to sit down with the family today and do an exclusive interview. they just got in town to see their son live out their dream. and actually shawn touwe, michael ore's dad is from new orleans. so he's overjoyed to see his son play in his hometown. but to get this far as a pro athlete, you obviously have to be competetive. and they feel that all that michael has been through in his life has prepared him for this moment. >> he is just one of these kids that works hard with everything he does. he'll set a goal and he'll achieve it. whatever the next level was, he does what it takes to get there.

and i fully believe because of that, there is no doubt in his mind or our mind that we're going to win. we're going to win this game. >> now, you saw what they're wearing. they are bled out. they have number 74 all over the place. their youngest son sj plays basketball at loyola college in maryland. and if the ravens win on sunday, the whole family is going to disney world. not a bad trip to take. we'll be back with more in sports. we'll hear from both harbaugh coaches coming up in just a bit. i'm kristen berset, guys, back to you in the studio. >> thank you, kristen. we have a whole lot more from new orleans later on in the broadcast. you can check out more of all of the other stories. just go to our website wusa9. check them out. and be sure to join us sunday for the superbowl. catch us right here starting at 6:30. okay. forget about marion, at least for a minute. there is a different sort of

barry riling up the crowds tonight. we're talking about dave barry. the wildly popular writer is in town promoting a new book. crowds packed into the book store to hang out with barry and hear about his latest novel entitled insane city. he even took some time out to talk a little superbowl. >> i strongly am in favor of whoever the book buying public is supporting. that's who i'm supporting as well. i agree with everybody watching the broad.nsan city is a fictiol novel set in miami. the comedy is about a wild wedding, unpredictable characters and everything that is weird about south florida. no shortage of ammunition. this is barry's first solo adult book in 10 years in stores now. you may have seen our recent undercover investigation. we found some african-americans were having a harder time getting a cab ride than whites. tonight we sit down with dc's taxi cab commissioner asking him

what are you doing to make sure everybody gets treated the same. topper. >> a very cold start on saturday. not single digits but pretty close. here is your wakeup weather. if you get up early enough, 12-22. and then by 9:00, 18-28. by 11:00, clouds rolling in. thankfully not windy in the morning. we'll come back and talk about snow showers developing later tomorrow. and i've added more snow

new tonight, we're launching a new fight to make sure everyone in dc has a cab to take them out. >> back in december, we showed that black passengers were half as likely to get a cab than white passengers. now investigative reporter russ ptacek talks with the dc taxi cab commissioner about fixing this mess. >> we've been out on the streets undercover since december. and what our hidden cameras have seen most recently is even more troubling than what we first reported. but whether it's racial discrimination or destination discrimination, these are issues that do not surprise dc taxi commission chairman. i sat down with him 1-on-1. >> no. in fact, i was surprised they

were that good. >> reporter: so why aren't you out there doing that? >> doing out there and doing the test doesn't really do anything for us. we get a complaint and we don't have to do a test if we have a complaint. >> reporter: so you're telling me if people complain, you're going to follow through. >> we do. that's the biggest thing. the most complaints we get is on that. and, yes, we do. we're overloaded with our complaint activity. >> reporter: and do you have enough staff to handle those complaints? >> well, yeah. but we're right at the brifrng. and if we -- brink. it's finding the ones that haven't got the message and it's getting the passenger to understand their rights. i've got to get my black passengers to understand open that door, sit down in the back seat, shut the door, tell the driver where you want to go. that's the way the regulation reads. as soon as the vehicle stops, open that door. >> reporter: so what people are

telling me is drivers aren't letting them in. drivers are keeping them out until they tell them the destination. >> they're locking the door before they can open it. get the name of the cab company and the number on the cab. because locking the door is a violation. they can't do that. and we make it very clear to the drivers that come in here on those charges. you elected this profession as a way to make money. and you agreed to a set of rules under which you would operate and you're not doing it. they can't take that position. they said that they want to do this. here are the rules. they study them. they get tested on them. there is no excuse for refusing to haul. >> reporter: more back passengers and more dc taxis driving straight by. >> he drove right by me. >> you did see me. >> how come you didn't pick me up. >> you didn't see me waving at

you? >> reporter: wait a second. wait a second. wait a second. you stopped for this passenger. why aren't you taking him where he wants to go? it's a problem wusa9 has been documenting since the 90s. and the solution may be as simple as a new wusa9 initiative on your mobile phone. we'll show you how it works and we'll show you the results of our latest undercover investigation into dc cabs. that's monday night at 11:00. i'm investigator reporter russ ptacek, wusa9. lots of glitz tonight in the big easy. our kristen fisher is working the red carpet. >> yes, she is. she is hanging out at espn's tent. hey, kristin. >> reporter: hey, guys. yes, this is one of the biggest parties tonight here in new orleans over superbowl weekend. and the red carpet has just

opened up. but are already we've seen kelly rolland walk the red carpet. she didn't say anything. wouldn't take any questions. but i'll tell you, who did take some questions, doug williams. he said he's excited to be here. bringing back a whole lot of memories. he's looking for a performance from celo green. but just listen to some of the other celebrities that we're expecting to see walk the red carpet in a little bit. we have $0.50, andy roddich, serena williams, lo lo jones. michael vick. it is celebrities and athletes in town for superbowl weekend. and we've been here since monday, and we've been feeling the excitement build every single day.

and today, tonight, it's really reached a peak. people are ready for the superbowl. lots of excitement and we're going to be posting tons of pictures, so be sure to check out our website. live from the red carpet, i'm kristin fisher, wusa9. >> great assignment. wusa9 is the place to be fo are the superbowl. -- for the superbowl. topper, four chances of snow in the next five days. >> we have a game on tomorrow night too. four chances is going to add up to a hill of beans, but there is still four chances. i just looked at something that looks like the best chance may be monday night now. >> okay. >> another chance tuesday night. let's start with a live look outside. let's get to the weekend first. it was 36 today for the high. temps fell all day. temps down to 20s. 22 is a downtown temperature. not a wind chill. dew point 1 lonely degree, which means indoor relative humidity

is about 8.5 percent. this is time to moistize. here is the -- moisturize. here is the next system. it's going to race southeast ward. we'll see some clouds in here by late tomorrow morning and maybe snow showers by tomorrow evening. not anticipating anything bad. but because of the chance for a dusting, we've issued a yellow alert for saturday and saturday night. so very cold start on saturday. evening snow showers possible. dusting to an inch. and in this case, better chances north of town. and we're looking at better chances for snow next week. monday and tuesday look much better than saturday and sunday. all right. here is a look at the future cast. by 3:00 tomorrow afternoon, clouds rolling in. snow already breaking out west of the divide. they're advisories out there west of the divide for garrett county and for oakland and the canadian valley. great weekend for skiing.

they'll pick up 3-6 inches. about i 7:30, a -- by 7:30, a little area of snow developing. a little tiny area, a little bulls-eye. not much. it will get out of here very, very quickly and we'll see it return to partly cloudy skies by saturday night. and another system comes in quickly on the heels on sunday night. so overnight, 12-22. clear to partly cloudy. very cold. thankfully the winds are dying down. by morning, teens and 20s to start. a little sun early and then clouds roll in pretty quickly. you'll need a heavy coat all day. and then by afternoon, high temperatures near 35. mostly cloudy or cold. winds thankfully only southwest at about 10. so the next three days, again, 9 weather alert will make it yellow for tomorrow. 33. we'll keep for now sunday green. evening snow showers. 38. should not keep you from getting to or from your superbowl party.

and then monday better chance for snow showers at night. colder too. tuesday we're back up to the mid 40s but another storm comes in. it play bleed into wednesday morning. upper 30s wednesday and then back in the 40s thursday and near 50 on friday. looks great for the superbowl in new orleans. high temperatures 68 with sunshine and a light breeze. kristen, can you beat that? >> reporter: thanks, topper. we're live in new orleans. the superbowl has been just as much about the coaches as it has the players. even though jim and john harbaugh really don't like the attention focused on them, they did entertain us with a joint conference.

now here is kristen berset at the wusa9 cadillac sports desk. >> reporter: for the first time in superbowl history, the remaining coaches held a joint press conference to end the week. jim and john harbaugh sat on either side of the lom bar de trophy -- lombardi trophy.

the coach's parents, jack and jackie harbaugh along with their grandfather. they were sporting the boys. both jim and john took different careers. jim was an nfl quarterback. john took the coaching route. we asked them had they ever thought about coaching together. >> i would love to work for jim. i would love it. it would be the greatest thing in the world. we almost made it happen at stanford at one time. great coach. there is nothing better than jim harbaugh. i mean that. there is no better coach than this guy sitting right here. >> well, jack harbaugh. >> that's true. >> yeah. laugh. >> [ laughing ] . >> reporter: that would be one heck of a team. there is obviously a lot of activities for fans to do. i've been watching people go in and out all week long, so i thought i would give it a try.

so i challenged a former baltimore raven receiver who was on the superbowl team in 2000 to a little punting and kicking and passing and catching. as you can imagine, he got me pretty good. that's why he has a superbowl ring. since he's been in this situation before, i want to know how he thinks his team will fair on sunday. >> certainly there's going to be some challenges. some mistakes that you're talking about is really good and the 49ers, they have done an awful lot as far as overcoming some on sta cells of their own. -- obstacles of their own. but i think over all the ravens have the mental makeup, and that intangible that says that they can be victorious. >> reporter: in other sports as well, capitals in action badly needing a win, but they delivered this time. they scored within a minute of each other. really lifted the spirits. caps pick up their second win

3-2. that will do it here for us in new orleans. wusa9 will

that is our broadcast. thank you for staying with us. letterman is next. and join us sunday for

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she too struggled with tumors. but that doesn't slow her down. her love of family comes first. their dad, phil, works two jobs, repairing copiers, and on weekends delivering newspapers. but the bills keep piling up, and the heating bill gets pushed off. when you learn about their difficulties, it just breaks your heart. when we asked the biggest oil companies to help families in need, only citgo, the people of venezuela, and president hugo chavez responded. thanks to them, citizens energy is able to deliver millions of gallons of fuel to families just like the berios. i'm joe kennedy. if you need help staying warm, call me at 1-877-joe-4-oil. because no one should be left out in the cold!